Best Brand of Drums

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The Top Ten

1
Pearl
From the forum series beginner set to the pearl masters and reference high end sets, pearl delivers great sound quality, shell and hardare quality and they're not so expensive, I've tried out all of the pearl sets and each of them sounds amazing. (best one is the masters and the free floating snare drum )
Tama is good but I use pearl and I like it and I think dwdrums are better than Tamma not pearl though
I really love pearl.. Trusted for uncountable years of service )
We've been using it for our mini concerts and its very-good music makes our performance 'the best'.
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2Tama
TAMA IS THE BEST HANDS DOWN
Lars Ulrich's favorite drums
I mean is there is anything else to say
I don't think so
I've been with Tama for years, in my own personal opinion they are the all round best drum company. They are built very strong with many attachments anyone can get. You can get custom made or just a basic set. I started with a simple 5 piece swingstar and now its a crazy set I play with my industrial band and sessions I do. They are just built to last that's why I've had mine for 13 years, not to say Tamas Iron Cobras are built just as strong and last forever. Just my own opinion, my best friend plays pearl which is just as strong but I stick with Tama baby.
TAMA king of Drums World... I got a separate place in Drummers world by my TAMA. Its Simply DRUMS=TAMA, Nothing more can get near to TAMA. ITS the Best among the Best..
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3DW Drums
All the other companies make great gear. However, the attention to detail that goes into EVERY DW Drum kit, is what makes the difference. John Good, has come up with some amazing ways to get drums to sound the way everyone wants them to. They are VERY pricey (my new 7 piece, drums only, comes to $5,000 - and I got a screaming deal). But I believe the quality is untouched. I have owned 1 Yamaha kit, 2 Pacific Kits (PDP), and a Taye kit. I am super stoked about my newest adventure.

Like I said, the other companies in this list make great gear too, just not as "perfect" as DW in my opinion. I spent MONTHS looking for a new kit. DW, came out on top, but a close second were Mapex and Tama. 3rd was the Yamaha PHX, 4th was Gretsch. Pearl and Yamaha kits were further down the line. Pearl has always seemed "mass produced" to me, and so does a huge portion of the Yamaha line. While I know people will tout about the Pearl Master Series. I had a friend who owned a set. And while he had them tuned well, there was still a feeling a "mass production" to me. They were nice drums, very nice by today's standards. I just didn't feel that the quality surpassed other kits. When you hold a DW drum, and then hold another drum, I think you can feel the difference in the drum quality.
I have played every major manufacturers drums over the past 29 years. DW is the most innovative company in the industry today, and has been since the late 90's. Their kits have the best sound and are the easiest to tune of any brand I have tried. Specific endorsees usually are not a good measure of a company as with the top drummers it is a business decision not a personal choice. I am not an endorsee, just a real experienced professional drummer that chooses to buy DW because they are a vastly superior product.
DW was the first for everything John Good is the most creative drum maker ever. His perfectionism is incredible hands down dw is the best.
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4Mapex
Amazing drum kits! They've got probably the best Snare Drums out of all the drum brands, in my opinion, and nearly the best toms too. Although their cymbals suck but that's what Sabian is for. MAPEX

LethalTortoise

It is a amazing drum brand. I've tried many other drums and to me I think mapex is the best. My current drum set is the Mapex Meridian Maple series. The mapex drums provides great sounds no matter wood you prefer.
I started out on my uncles mapex which made terrific sound. The snare and the bass was terrific, I mean, the whole thing was. If you want a good rock drum, than this is the best. I also recommend the zidjian symbols, they are teriffic.
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5PDP
Yeah I think pdp should be number 1 their prices may be a little hight but I have the x7 series and they sound great, even better the evans drum heads and I have benn playing drums for 6 years and I gotten to meet jeremy davis on you tube look him up he has a pdp drum set to hope you guys can subscribe
Great drums sound clear and just as good snares and toms as DW or any other brands. They sound clear and good and I have a PDP rack and it is more customizable that any I have used before.
I think that pdp should be number 1 in the list. I have 1 pdp set at home and
Hve a wonderful sound
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6Yamaha
Yamaha drums are by far the best sounding drums I've ever played (besides dw), yamaha's higher end drums, such as the maple custom series, produce a really deep, fat, warm, resonant tone, that I really haven't heard from some other companies. The durability of the drums is outstanding due to the fact they use the diagonal seem system which keeps the drums from warping. Yamaha also uses the airseal system which takes all the moisture out of the drums and keeps it out so you don't have to worry about humidity affecting the sound. I was really shocked to see Yamaha so far down the list, in my opinion Yamaha should be up in the top 3.
Yamaha is great, even in the begginer sets, there's always quality. Furthermore, Yamaha invests in wood mixture, and that turns the sound really good. I have a Gigmaker set, which is "low quality", but it has a really good sound for a low-price set. The top sets are AMAZING, like PHX or Recording Custom, the sound is just phenomenal.
In my opinion yamaha should be number one the toms have a nice tone and the bass is just incredible and another good thing is the tom sizes are amller which can help accommodate smaller drummers. Plus most churches and music festivals use yamaha drums. Even my grandmas church bright hope baptist in philly has a yamaha gig maker which wows me with the sound to be a beggining kit
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7Sonor Drums
Sonor is best for jazz music or even other music. It has good tone quality. The shells and the drums itself is excellent when it comes to durability and it is the drummer's drum.

It isn't so expensive yet its not cheap but it's price is affordable and the quality is so brilliant. Maybe other brands like pearl, yamaha, tama and other are far more bigger manufacturer of drumset but Sonor is far more better that those drumsets.
acdc plays with sonor, sound is perfect I love it. this is an excellent brand and its quality is very high which is reflected on its sound

Sonor's are good, but not the cheap ones. If you want a good Sonor, you'll need some money
Other band's that use Sonor are Motorhead, Rammstein,30 Seconds to Mars, Tool, Meshuggah and Ozzy Osbourne
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8Ludwig
Don't forget Ringo from the Beatles. The set is awesome! I've used a Ludwig for the past 3-4 years. It's still standing. It still sounds great and I honestly love it! Pearl, DW, and Yamaha are good, but nothing beats Ludwig!

Lycanhropy21

MY UNCLE HAVE ONE LUDWIG AND HI DIED 3 DAYS AGO... HE TOLD AS THE FAMILY THAT THAT DRUMS ARE THE BEST DRUMS IN THE WORLD AND HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST DRUMS PLAYERS IN MACEDONIA.. HIS NAME WAS DONCO MITROV.. TANKS
Buddy Rich, John Bonham, Steve Vai. Enough said.
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9ddrum
Keep a close eye on this company(Ddrum) They are building superior products in just a short amount of time. I've played DW, Pearl, Tama, Ludwig, and none of these sets holds a candle to my custom maple Dominion Dominator set-up. Stix143
Why do you think many drummers are moving to ddrum? Great quality
I was a pearl player but switched to this brand... Great tone
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10Gretsch
While not the least expensive, Gretsch Renown's can go up against any kit in the marketplace. When I purchased my kit, there was a DW kit for twice the price next to it on the floor. I was amazed that the Gretsch kits tone seemed to be superior to the the DW. I tune my drums low and w/ Aquarian Performance 10 heads, I receive many compliments from sound engineers commenting on the quality of sound they produce. Just for jazz, I don't think so. These drums sounds like absolute thunder when properly tuned. Best of all, the American name is a true survivor. Gretch... Their slogan says it all... "That Great Gretsch Sound. "
Strong, rich, and punchy. Foremost, CLEAR!
The sound is great, and seems to be applicable to almost all genres of music(in my opinion).

The best sounding drums I've heard.
I got no problem if this is at #5 because it doesn't seem to be as popular as the other brands such as Ludwig, Pearl, DW, Mapex, etc... And in fact, I'm having a damn hard time trying to find a dealer in my area.

But TAMA at #2? What the heck!
I'd rather see the original CAMCO name in it.
Yeah, it's actually that camco sound!
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The Contenders

11Zildijian
For me the symbols are off the hook, they ring like crazy! If you want to make some serious music buy zildijian symbols as for the rest of the drum am not so sure, cause I have'nt got the chance to try it yet. But seriously music calls for zildijian, sambian and tama now that is a drum for sure play hard my brothers!
This is maroon 5 drum
The best cymbalas on the planet!

12Jinbao

13Meinl

I like meinl cause most of their cymbals sound really good. The only thing is the price, but most good soundong cymbals are a lot of money


14First Act

15Fernando

16Dave's
Perfect sound nice to use and good

shakers4141


17CB Percussion

Good quality, Great Price


18Premier
Denchest retro shiz ever
has thenicestt snare sound ever and is much better yamaha or tama!
The snares are so amazing my drummer mate had one and after recording the sound guy started renting it for bands because of its punch and clarity it was and addition to a pearl kit

19Roland
My church has a electro drum set witch I love to use so Roland is what I would get for a electro drums

20Sound Percussion

21Paiste
I am using Paiste 101 Crash Cymbol + Hi_Hat... It sounds really great...!

22SJC Custom Drums
Alex Shelnutt plays on custom SJCs. I think that that is reason enough.
Good piece, good sound, good art

23Dixon
The wood work on the kit is good, which helps in delivering good quality of sound
They are coming up with amazing kits and they sound as crisp as any other kit

24Truth

Look at the artists who play with Truth Drums as opposed to those who play Yamahas or Sonors. No comparison. Truth should be number 2, directly behind Tama.

My cool dream sets punchy and low


25Chancellor

26Stagg

27Slingerland
So retro, listen @ Jay Bellerose on Raising sand (A. Rauss&R. Plant)
I played Slingerland in three rock groups from 1967 to 1972. They had great sound and the shells stood up well to hundreds of gigs. The chrome snare was the best.

28C&C Custom Drums

29Le Soprano

30Orange County Drums and Percussion

I've played ocdp's forever. And I'm in love.

AWESOME! Travis barker uses ocdp and he is an awesome drummer! Its not the best but should at least be on the top 10


31DC California Drums

32Sabian
This cymbals are for the beginners, non-beginners, intermediate and advanced players

33Axl

34Maxtone

35Granite

36Kumu

37Basix

38Gammon

39Peace
Peace is just amazing their affordable, but pro!. Their drums always have that snap. Don't believe me search kin rivera on youtube and youll see what I mean!

40Leedy Drum

Oh it gives a good sound


41Spaun

42Crush Drums
The best sounding drums I've ever heard in my life! Amazing warmth and price point can't be beat by anyone else on the market! I can see Crush easily entering the top 10 in a matter of years! Beautiful sound with an amazing price point!

43Vic Firth

44RMV Drums
INCREDIBLE BATTERY WOOD BRAZILIAN SOUND AND FINISH TOP, DO NOT LET NOTHING TO WISH THE TOP.

45Diamond

46Tamburo

47Drum Sound

48Millenium

49Powersonic

50PowerBeat

51Exl Drums

52DXP

53Taye
Makes some really great products, especially their snares. Personally, one of the best sounding snares I've heard.

54Gabriel

55Wuhan
The Best in chine

56Active

57Gatton

58Groove Percussion

59Odery Drums

60Apollo

61Enforcer

62Natal Drums

63Timoteo Drums

64Enigma

65X-Trek II

66Supra

67Pulse

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List Info

This list was created 5 years, 90 days ago and has been voted on over 2,000 times. This top ten list has been remixed 5 times.

Updated Tuesday, June 18, 2013


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